Now that 30 Rock is over and he doesn’t seem to be picking fights with any paparazzi or tabloid reporters (at least this week), Alec Baldwin is going to try his hand at the whole cable news network thing, as he will host the weekly Friday night show, Up Late on MSNBC. The most successful and outspoken Baldwin brother has hosted his own podcast, “Here’s the Thing,” since 2011, so it’s only natural that the charismatic and sometimes controversial actor would bring his opinions to television.

According to The Hill, MSNBC President Phil Griffin said that this has been something that both parties have been talking about for a while, and he and Baldwin are excited to get this show underway come October.

“I’ve been talking with Alec for a while and can’t wait to bring his personality and eclectic interests to MSNBC,” he said. “He’s got such passion for ideas and what’s going on in the world — he’s going to be a great addition to our line-up.”

“After two seasons of my WNYC podcast, I’ve developed a fondness for hosting a show that involved talking with smart, talented and engaging people in every imaginable field,” he said in a statement. “I’m grateful to MSNBC for helping me bring a similar show to television.”

While MSNBC hasn’t announced which Friday the show will debut on, it will air at 10 PM each Friday.

Up Late was, of course, originally hosted by Rainier Wolfcastle; however, like Baldwin, he found himself in hot water soon after he publicly made some terrible, derogatory remarks.

@Velocity: Indeed, except Beck and Limbaugh don’t want to run for office–if for no other reason than they would have to talk to the opposition too.

Theory: NBC and its corporate overlords at Comcast (never forget: the same people that overcharge you for shitty cable service use the profits to operate a liberal propaganda channel) think that they can turn Baldwin into a latter-day Reagan. (Don’t forget that Reagan was also a middling actor who became a game-changing politician by hosting a TV show and parlayed that into a speaking career.)

The NBC brass think that Baldwin may be able to parlay a few thousand viewers (and that’s not a joke–MCNBC on a Friday night? Ratings may be lower than the legendary “McEnroe” show.) into a viral presence that will toss him into the mix for NY governor, and from there who knows what he could do.